Debuff Master-Chapter 839

“Where... are we?”

“Kyuuu...?”

Siegfried and Hamchi looked around in confusion. They had just been forcibly teleported away by that bizarre magic circle.

They looked around their surroundings and noticed a variety of creatures, such as humans, goblins, camels, orcs, and more, whispering among themselves.

“Oh?”

“Chwik! So that’s the human that killed the Dragon Slayer!”

“They say he carries the heart of Inkarthus.”

“No wonder he exudes the aura of a dragon!”

“Hmm...”

‘W-What... is this? Where am I? What are all these creatures?’ Siegfried had no idea what was going on and could not make sense of the situation at all.

It was then.

“It’s good to see you again.”

An elderly man with his hand extended approached to greet him.

‘Huh? Who is this old geezer?’ Siegfried wondered, furrowing his brows.

He had no idea who this old man was, as he was certain that he never saw him before in his life. But the fact that the old man said good to see you again only added to his confusion even more.

“It’s me,” the old man said with a smile.

“Pardon...?”

“I said, it’s me.”

“...Who exactly are you?”

“I am Gerog.”

“Ge-what?”

“A Dragon Lord.”

“Ah, A Dragon Lo—excuse me?! What?!”

Siegfried was nodding absentmindedly when the words finally registered in his brain, causing him to shriek out and recoil in shock.

“D-Dragon Lord?! You mean that Gerog?!”

“That’s right. We met once at the Eternal Isles.”

“Oh! Yes! Of course!” Siegfried exclaimed enthusiastically in response, nodding frivolously in agreement. However, what he said was completely different from what he was thinking.

‘Damn it! Why drag me here?! What’s this nonsense?!’

Although he managed to contain his annoyance, he was raging deep inside. Dealing with an ordinary dragon was already a headache, as proven by the fiasco he had to go through because of Keanus.

However, dealing with a Dragon Lord? That was exponentially more difficult.

“Haha! It’s truly a pleasure to see you again,” Gerog said with a hearty laugh.

“I-It is an honor to be in your presence, Your Exalted Magnificent Greatness!” Siegfried exclaimed, quickly dropping to his knees and bowing low—no, flat on the ground.

The bow was so deep and dramatic that it could be said to be the ultimate show of respect.

“Oh! To think that there are still young people in this age who know how to perform such a great bow! What an exceptionally polite individual you are!” Gerog exclaimed with admiration.

The other creatures around nodded in approval as well, looking clearly impressed.

“Remarkable!”

“What a courteous young man!”

“You don’t see many like him these days!”

“I swear! Kids these days!”

Siegfried was merely bowing as low as he could for the sake of his survival, but unbeknownst to him, the bow he had made, which was kneeling with his head low to the ground and hips raised high up, was known as the Great Bow.

The Great Bow was an ancient act of reverence once performed by intelligent beings when meeting dragons. It was a long-forgotten display of respect that was lost in time. In fact, only a handful of individuals were even aware that it once existed.

Naturally, Siegfried’s unexpected demonstration of the Great Bow had brought immense delight to Gerod and the other dragons.

“But who are all these individuals...?” Siegfried asked hesitantly.

“Ah, allow me to introduce them. These are the Lords of their respective clans. This one here is the Lord of the Red Clan. This one is the Lord of the Blue Clan. And this one is the Lord of the...”

Siegfried was even more shocked when he realized that the random creatures gathered were actually Dragon Lords in their polymorphed forms.

‘Just kill me already!’

The fact that a Dragon Lord had summoned him was already too much to bear. He lamented his fate but still managed to greet each one of the mighty creatures as respectfully as he could before turning back to Gerog.

“Great and Magnificent One, may I ask why you have summoned me?”

“I heard about what you did from Keanus,” Gerog replied.

“Ah!”

“You’ve accomplished a great feat. As a Dragon Lord, I must express my gratitude on behalf of our kind. If not for you, far more dragons would have been hunted down.”

“Oh, it was nothing.”

“Haha! Such a humble human!”

Surprisingly, Gerog repeatedly praised Siegfried, which was quite uncharacteristic of a dragon.

‘What’s with this old geezer? He’s being way too nice...’ Siegfried wondered. While he was aware that slaying the Dragon Slayer was quite the achievement, he found the overwhelming niceness coming from a Dragon Lord to be quite unusual. After all, dragons typically regarded humans as nothing more than insects, so even if a human saved their lives, they would not go out of their way to praise them like this.

However, there was something unknown to Siegfried.

‘I can’t risk getting beaten up by that monster again...’

In truth, Gerog was terrified of Siegfried’s master, Deus. He had explicitly warned the other Dragon Lords about it before summoning Siegfried. He emphasized that they had to treat him as nicely as possible.

Fortunately, the other Dragon Lords believed Gerog’s account of his encounter with Deus, so nobody dared to show hostility or disdain toward Siegfried.

“Now then, the reason we called you here is...” Gerog proceeded to explain why Siegfried was summoned before the numerous Dragon Lords.

***

“This incident poses a grave threat to us dragons as well. Thus, we have decided to assist you in finding a way through this crisis,” Gerog said, his voice sounding solemn.

“Such wisdom, O Great and Majestic One!” Siegfried exclaimed and worshiped the dragon.

“Ahem! We’re merely doing the right thing,” Gerog said with a cough. Then, he hesitated before adding, “Also, this situation is... beyond what we dragons can handle alone.”

‘Heh. This old lizard is just scared of the Dragon Slayers,’ Siegfried noticed that Gerog was clearly hesitating and had to wrestle with his pride just to say those few words.

Despite their overwhelming might, there was nothing they could do against the angels. If they acted recklessly and happened to encounter a Dragon Slayer, then that would be the end of them.

‘Ugh... As useless as ever...’ Siegfried groaned inwardly. How many times had the world teetered on the brink of destruction? Far too many to count by now.

If it hadn't been for the efforts of people like Siegfried and many others who fought battles across the continent, these dragons would have met their demise while snoozing away in their nests long ago.

And now, here they were, crawling out of their lairs due to a Dragon Slayer's threat to their lives.

Siegfried could not help but think that the creation of the dragons as a species by the Creator was one huge, colossal act of negligence.

But what choice could be made here? There was no way he could reprimand them for it, nor did he have the power to do anything to them.

“For such noble beings to take risks for the world! What a terrible waste of your lives that is of immeasurable value to this world!” Siegfried exclaimed, bowing down low to the ground once again.

“Hoho! Is that really what you think?” Gerog said with a laugh, delighted by Siegfried’s words.

“Haha! I truly appreciate you, boy!

“Very respectful indeed.”

“This is a rare one.”

The other Dragon Lords seemed to be happy, too.

Unbeknownst to them, this was one of Siegfried’s tricks to praise the dragons and safeguard their pride while making himself look oblivious to what was said earlier.

And it was super effective against these proud creatures...

“What is your will, Great Ones? This insignificant creature shall follow it faithfully,” Siegfried added, expertly stroking the sweet spot of the dragons.

Ding!

Then, a message popped up in front of his eyes.

[Alert: Your title Despicable Treacherous Retainer has been upgraded!]

[Alert: You have obtained the title God of Flattery!]

[God of Flattery]

[A title bestowed upon those who use their glib tongue to turn flattery into an art.]

[Type: Title]

[Rating: Legendary]

[Effect: When flattering NPCs that are stronger than you, the likelihood of winning them over is increased by 500%]

Having dealt with many dragons, Siegfried's flattery skills had reached an unprecedented level.

“For now... there is a favor we dragons wish to ask of you,” Gerog said.

“A favor? You do not have to ask anything, Great One! I shall go and deal with the Dragon Slayers on your behalf!” Siegfried replied confidently.

“Huh? How did you know what we wanted?”

“Though an insignificant creature like me will never fully grasp the will of such mighty beings, I had a feeling that this is what I had to do!”

“Hoho! Such a polite and upright young man!”

Gerog was completely taken aback by Siegfried’s glib tongue, and it was the same for the other Dragon Lords.

“Who could have thought that the humans would end up producing someone like him?”

This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.

“He’s quite dependable for a human.”

“Hmm... If you ask me, he’s on a level beyond ordinary humans.”

“Indeed. Absorbing Inkarthus’ heart... that practically makes him a dragon, no?”

“Exactly!”

“It doesn’t matter what form he takes as long as he possesses the same heart as us!”

The Dragon Lords from each clan were almost at the point of officially acknowledging Siegfried as one of their own kind.

Ding!

A new quest popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

[Dragon Bodyguard]

[Protect the dragons from the Dragon Slayers!]

[Type: Repeatable Quest]

[Progress: N/A]

[Reward: 10 tons of gold for every Dragon Slayer defeated.]

‘T-Ten tons of gold?! And it’s repeatable?!’

Ten tons of gold was six hundred billion won in the real world, and it was an absurd amount of money. Even though the in-game gold exchange rate had dropped recently, ten tons of gold was still worth a lot.

If Siegfried were to sell them in bulk, he'd crash the gold exchange market, but he would still make a guaranteed one hundred billion won.

‘T-This is madness! It means I can just keep milking the hell out of them!’ Siegfried exclaimed inwardly.

Without a hint of hesitation, he accepted the quest.

[Alert: You have accepted the Quest – Dragon Bodyguard!]

Then, he turned to Gerog immediately and said with utmost respect, “I shall resolve the inconveniences that do not even deserve the attention of such mighty and noble beings.”

“Hoho! Thank you! Truly, thank you!”

Gerog was overjoyed, but the truth was that Siegfried was more happy than him at this development. No, the word "happy" was an understatement; Siegfried was ecstatic to the point of swooning.

“I am merely trying to be of service to the noblest beings of this world,” Siegfried replied humbly.

“Very well. We shall leave everything to you,” Gerog said with a satisfied nod.

Siegfried bowed deeply—a full ninety degrees this time—before saying, “I will serve you with my utmost dedication.”

The dragons were now his esteemed clients, and he had no plans of letting them down.

Gerog cleared his throat and asked, “Ahem! That aside, where is the Star mentioned in the prophecy?”

“He is safe,” Siegfried replied.

“I see. Then, we shall help him regain his memories. Surely, he holds the key to resolving this crisis.”

“Such wisdom, Great One!”

“Tell me where he is. I shall summon him myself.”

“Yes, O Great and Majestic One!”

“Enough with that! Just call me Elder.”

“B-But...”

“Now, now! You’re practically a dragon already. Are you going to keep using such stiff terms and continue making me feel uncomfortable? Just call me Elder! Elder!”

“Ah, uh... I understand, Elder.”

Just like that, Siegfried earned the coveted yet known to be impossible honor of becoming an honorary dragon.

***

A few hours later...

“W-Where am I...?”

Mikhail, who was abruptly summoned by the Dragon Lord’s magic, looked around in confusion. However, he soon grasped the situation and understood what was happening after listening to Siegfried’s explanation.

“Yes, this is what I hoped for as well. I would be grateful if you could help me regain my memories,” Mikhail said, readily accepting the offer of the Dragon Lords to help him regain his memories.

Before they could proceed, a problem arose.

“Wait a moment! Isn’t that a demon?!”

“What business do demons have in a place like this?!”

The Dragon Lords immediately recognized Metatron and Chaos, who were assigned to be Mikhail’s bodyguards, as demons, and they instantly reacted with hostility.

Siegfried quickly stepped in to defuse the tense situation. “They are not what you think, Great Ones! These two are my subordinates. They became my slaves through a contract. I do understand that their presence might displease you, but please, I ask for your patience and benevolent understanding.”

Then, he proceeded to explain the whole situation in detail.

“Hoho! I’ll believe you. After all, are we not of the same kind?”

“To enslave a Demon Lord’s son... As expected, you are no ordinary individual! Truly! You are a dragon! A dragon among dragons!”

Metatron and Chaos were utterly shocked to see the Dragon Lords treating Siegfried as one of their own.

“M-My lord...?” Chaos whispered. Then, he continued with a trembling voice, “...I fear that regaining your freedom... might be impossible at this point.”

“S-Silence, Chaos!” Metatron snapped at him in frustration.

Unfortunately, he could not entirely deny what his loyal retainer said, as he was thinking the same way as well.

The grim realization dawned on him. Since Siegfried had been recognized as an honorary dragon, then their servitude as his slaves could very well last not just centuries but potentially millennia.

“Let us begin.”

Ignoring Metatron and Chaos, the Dragon Lords turned their attention to Mikhail.

They gathered their energy to cast a spell that would help Mikhail recover his lost memories.